We are serious about accuracy and we want to hear about any mistakes. That's why we post the source data. Our email address is at the top of the right column on every page.

Please note the detail at the bottom of the graphic. Since our districts were merged last year, it is not possible for us to determine which side of the beats' border streets pre-merger crimes occurred on. We have kept everything even by including crimes reported on both sides of Irving Park Road, Southport Avenue, and Belmont Avenue in all years.

7 comments:

Question. Since the police are alledgedly downsizing their numbers. Ie, the theft of a cellphone that retails girl $600 is considered a felony and not a 'robbery' can u tell everyone, so were on the same page, what a robbery defines as? :)

Question. Since the police are alledgedly downsizing their numbers. Ie, the theft of a cellphone that retails girl $600 is considered a felony and not a 'robbery' can u tell everyone, so were on the same page, what a robbery defines as? :)-----------------------

The difference is not the value of the item(s) taken. The difference is the manner in which they are taken.

Robbery involves taking something by using force or threatening the imminent use of force.

Robbery is rather uniformly classified as a violent crime in the United States, theft is not.

The definition of robbery in Illinois may be found here:http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/fulltext.asp?DocName=072000050K18-1

The definition of theft in Illinois may be found here:http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs4.asp?DocName=072000050HArt%2E+16&ActID=1876&ChapterID=53&SeqStart=36200000&SeqEnd=40800000

One of the gray areas surrounds what constitutes “force.” For example, in Illinois, purse-snatching is considered theft, even though there is a certain element of force involved in taking someone's purse away from them.

It is possible for a theft to escalate into a robbery, for example, if a purse-snatching goes bad and the offender escalates the situation.

On Thursday, Sun-Times columnist Tom Brown wrote an article about Tunney and his dealings with the Wrigley Field expansion. Nothing was mentioned in his piece about the crimes plaguing Tunney's ward. Frankly, I wonder how many journalist are aware of it? So, as a conscientious and loyal fan of CWB, I sent Brown the link to the CWB site informing him of the abhorrent disregard Tunny has for his constituents and asking him to read everything noted here. Interesting to see if Brown picks up on it.